tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-537563668468712612014-10-06T20:31:52.580-06:00Jeff's FPV and RC PlanesUpdates on my RC Planes and FPV workJeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16937131691811060956noreply@blogger.comBlogger79125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53756366846871261.post-74588826854011050592013-11-03T00:08:00.003-06:002013-11-03T12:16:44.379-07:00DJI Phantom + Tarot2D Gimbal - Day One Enjoy! Day One.
All up weight is 900g with the Tarot2D gimbal and the GoPro3 Black. Add in another 175g for the stock 2200mAh lipo, and more like 200g for my 30C 2200mAh ones. Stock Phantom lists 670g AUW...so figure I've added 230g with the GoPro3 and Tarot2D gimbal? Phantom web site recommends <1000g max TO weight. OK, lets just figure 850g stock to 1075g with camera/gimbal. That is a Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16937131691811060956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53756366846871261.post-63682231340214636132013-11-02T00:26:00.003-06:002013-11-02T20:01:39.951-06:00Flight of the Phantom! Just finished up assembling the Tarot 2D Gimbal and getting all the wiring harness (power and pitch control) made for the DJI Phantom. Flew it quite a bit more tonight before that, trying out basic 2.4GHz FPV direct to my Fat Shark Goggles. It don't work very well to run Video and Control on the same Freq. :(
Figured I would link the Tarot 2D FW 1.3 here for reference. Wiring connections Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16937131691811060956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53756366846871261.post-33600525659748378162013-10-28T19:26:00.000-06:002013-11-01T06:24:06.396-06:00New DJI Phantom QuadcopterJust ordered a DJI Phantom and a Tarot 2D Gimbal control for FPV flight. Sportsman's Warehouse also just had a $50 off offering for any internet order over $250 with HLWN code...Bing, GoPro 3 Black just recently reduced from $399 to $329 with the new 3+ announced...plus another $50 off. Done. This thing should be awesome.
Update (10/31/2013): Both of these arrived today! YAY!!! Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16937131691811060956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53756366846871261.post-70632796531457119042013-07-25T19:48:00.001-06:002013-10-28T19:30:37.812-06:00New Skywalker X8 FPV Wing Just got a Skywalker X8 to load all my FPV stuff into. Seems like lots of people are getting 100km autonomous flights with >10Ah type lipos. I'm just hoping to get >30 minutes of cruise throttle to get up over my 2 mile record flight...should be easy with this flying wing compared to my cramped EZ*. I am putting 3x 4S 3300mAh LIPO's, 60A Turnigy Plush ESC, 715W 3548/6 Turnigy XP outrunner, Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16937131691811060956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53756366846871261.post-19003138546471759502012-03-30T20:05:00.001-06:002012-03-30T20:43:10.394-06:00New Ultra Micro P-51 Just got a Parkzone Ultra Micro P-51 that weighs all of 1.22 oz flying weight. It comes with a cheapo 4ch Spektrum DSMX radio. Seems very agile. Can't wait to fly it, but I think it needs REALLY calm days...grin. Some video of it...Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16937131691811060956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53756366846871261.post-86175481557249998762012-03-28T20:10:00.001-06:002012-03-30T20:46:42.241-06:00New Ultra Micro E-Flight Sbach 342 Got an E-flight UMX Sbach 342 that flies on 2S 180mAh micro lipo and is all of 1.95oz total flying weight. It has a combo ESC and Spektrum DSMX Rx with 4ch control. Micro linear servos...pretty cool. Too windy to fly yet. Some video here...Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16937131691811060956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53756366846871261.post-36784404202832015712012-03-04T09:19:00.019-07:002012-04-10T19:41:18.592-06:00SBach 342 30ePicked up this 1323mm wingspan SBach 342 from Hobby King this weekend. I'm loving how my Duramax Corsair and Mustang is showing in the air (once I got the engine thrust aligned for better tracking in the air with the 2 blade props). And this SBach 342 is one of my favorite flyers right now on Real Flight 6 flight sim. Now this 53" wingspan version will only be about 50% of the size of the Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16937131691811060956noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53756366846871261.post-7932658443893872912012-01-02T18:25:00.002-07:002012-01-02T19:49:27.983-07:00Happy New Year!!!! Just picked up a couple 1100mm Durafly F4U Corsair and P51D Mustang from Hobby King. They have full retracts, 4ch controls and LED lighting and come very highly praised...
I also took today to work on my broken tricopter and repair most all of it, as well as to fix my DW Foamies Yak 54 that needed a lot of gluing (stupid landings tear the gear out every time). And, I reglued my Park Zone T28 Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16937131691811060956noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53756366846871261.post-12056645698270931392011-12-29T19:29:00.002-07:002011-12-29T19:33:27.173-07:00Tricopter FPVGot my eagle eyes system mostly back up and working, including a new addition, the guardian stabilization module, which should fix a lot of my questionable RTH functions. But in the mean time, I wanted to begin getting just basic video FPV only working with my tricopter. Finally seem to have a pretty good setup working with the copter, and it seems pretty stable. I've been practicing on the Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16937131691811060956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53756366846871261.post-69479747267473908332011-12-18T13:44:00.002-07:002011-12-20T13:57:06.948-07:00First flight on Tri/Quad Y4 copter Got it all finished up yesterday, in spite of minor board problems with my Hobby King v2. LED lights are really cool at night on it. I've gone through more props than I care to count right now. Been playing with different sizes, and I need to re-engineer my back motor mounts, because they are a bit flimsy and it has become obvious that running these motors with anything less than 10x4.7 is Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16937131691811060956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53756366846871261.post-16297015220626538112011-12-16T20:58:00.002-07:002011-12-16T20:59:16.713-07:00Start of new tri-copter Just got the first part of the center plate cut out and drilled from 0.060" Aluminum stock. Not sure that is going to be great for radio reception or FPV, but I'll get something better later. Going to try to make this a V-tail Y4 copter, I think...at least first. That skips the need for a rear servo for yaw. Similar to this basic config, anyway. MultiWii copter V-tail does better control, Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16937131691811060956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53756366846871261.post-23230318466434006582011-12-09T18:08:00.003-07:002011-12-13T10:27:44.427-07:00Tricopter work Just ordered a bunch of parts to build a tricopter to begin to put FPV on it. This field has come a LONG way in just a couple months, and hopefully, I can get some time on this and begin to get back into my FPV stuff with this as well as on the longer range EZ*. Will keep you updated. For now, thanks to Toby, my new next door neighbor, who needed some help with his build and just required a Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16937131691811060956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53756366846871261.post-55235373486507637162011-03-08T13:16:00.002-07:002011-03-08T13:16:10.772-07:00Long time awayFigured I'd post an update here. I've been busy with being a parent and work. Got new goggles still haven't even tried out (fatsharks). I've got the latest FW updated on the ET OSD Pro and am working on getting the GoPro HD into a new EZ* airframe...hard to get motivated...Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16937131691811060956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53756366846871261.post-72124025052657639612010-06-09T19:56:00.002-06:002012-01-02T18:32:10.374-07:00Fat Sharks! Got my Fat Shark wireless 2.4GHz goggles in from the Memorial Day sale from Range Video. Excited to try them out, but I have been very distracted with work and weekends at the cabin, so haven't had time to rebuild my EZ* fuse or even try these out with any setup. I also go the GoPro HD camera in and need to figure out how to put it in the EZ*. I'm very tempted to just try to work it into the Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16937131691811060956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53756366846871261.post-26233786471046983942010-06-02T06:14:00.004-06:002012-03-04T09:22:45.674-07:00Going HD... Well, I ordered a GoPro HD camera for my plane last weekend from Amazon.com. This is a pretty good 1080p/30fps or 720p/60fps HD camera that records to SD card in MPG4 and has a light lion battery and waterproof case plus a ton of helmet and vehicle mounts. Planning to run it as a separate feed/local recorder for now. There is talk that they are planning to have a FW update that will allow it Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16937131691811060956noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53756366846871261.post-46198378093796021082010-04-28T10:07:00.002-06:002010-05-03T21:20:39.688-06:00Ahhh, the rain...Flew last night and last Monday (it was >30mph then). It was really green last night and I got a flight in at 7PM between rain storms, and pretty calm. I put a gyro on my roll to see if it would help stabilize some of the pitching (it works ok, but need to dial the gain a little). I think I’m exceeding my BEC for the receiver, with the gyro, all the servos and the OSD. I kept getting dropped Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16937131691811060956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53756366846871261.post-7110090162880311552010-04-26T06:54:00.001-06:002010-05-03T21:21:52.588-06:00WINDY!!!!Went out today and tried out the new filter on the video Tx antenna. It didn't help, but I think the cheap HXT servos are just picking up noise from it. Also tested out the gyro on the roll axis for the ailerons, which is set a little too aggressive on the response. Too bad I forgot my sony miniDV recorder. I also got the pitot tube airspeed kit in. Worked MUCH better than the GPS speed, Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16937131691811060956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53756366846871261.post-51608822796907940642010-04-19T19:42:00.001-06:002010-05-03T21:22:23.832-06:00Ahhh...the fog...Took the plane up to the cabin to try some scenic mountain flying. I've been waiting to get a better distance and practice before trying in trees and tough recovery locations, like mountains and dense trees. Well, with the last couple flights and testing out the eagle eyes diversity and antenna tracker, and with spring setting on, I figured it would be a good time to try. So, packed it all up. I Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16937131691811060956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53756366846871261.post-68146734046800364852010-04-01T22:09:00.009-06:002010-05-03T21:25:33.540-06:00Mile High Club!!! So, I finally made it up over a mile. 5280ft above the ground. And on that SAME day, I flew two other ~20 minute flights. The last one, of which, also got up to about a mile high, but also was almost 11,000ft (over 2 miles!!!) line of sight away. And the subsequent glide back down was long and peaceful. I had a great time. I'm now pushing about 2ft/mAh of battery with the 2835 Turnigy inrunner Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16937131691811060956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53756366846871261.post-64728013784467459752010-03-20T18:56:00.003-06:002010-05-03T21:37:55.304-06:00AAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! Well, I got up and left the house with my DW Foamies BAF 48" Yak 54 and my Tiger 2 electric conversion plane in my back seat with plenty of batteries to fly. Temp, a chilly 33'F. Got over to a sod farm that people are flying regularly at over by Eagle Road, and no one was there, but the wind wasn't up yet. Perfect. Flew the Yak for about 4 packs, and had a great time. Wind coming up a bit and myJeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16937131691811060956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53756366846871261.post-48367635955906379252010-03-14T10:09:00.005-06:002010-05-03T21:35:54.795-06:00OSD Pro Screen ElementsI took a sample screen of my Eagle Tree Systems On Screen Display (OSD) and highlighted what each element of the display is telling you. Just hover over the large image below.
Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16937131691811060956noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53756366846871261.post-44545208183117104982010-03-07T09:22:00.002-07:002010-05-03T21:37:12.910-06:00Flying in the sunGot some video of my Yak 54 from DW Foamies today. Thanks to my wonderful wife for video taping! Here is an iPhone version. Also, here is an iPhone version of me flying the pluma.Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16937131691811060956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53756366846871261.post-24010603573600249942010-03-07T09:00:00.006-07:002010-05-03T21:39:53.244-06:00FPV 13 - Crash! Well, in an attempt to get the 3dbi video Tx antenna moved as far away from the servos and Rx as I could, I ran an SMA 24" extension cable out to the end of the wing and put the antenna on there. Figured it would be a little unbalanced, but not completely uncontrollable. Also was a little worried it was running the exact same direction as my Rx antenna (grin). Field check showed it ok for Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16937131691811060956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53756366846871261.post-39722932059819457832010-03-06T10:15:00.012-07:002010-05-03T21:42:18.601-06:00Bright Shiny Day!!! Well, I put the 3dbi longer antenna on the Video Tx (compared to the slightly shorter 2dbi one). I get all sorts of servo jitter and massive interference. Hum...it goes away when I unplug the video power, and is almost completely cleared up when I go back to the 2dbi Tx.
I may have to just move to a flying wing like everyone else here and separate everything out really far. I'm still not happy Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16937131691811060956noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53756366846871261.post-63009594973484695222010-03-03T22:23:00.002-07:002010-05-03T21:42:50.208-06:00Latest FPV!!!Had my best two FPV experiences to date late yesterday. Fixed the issues with the video I was having and sounds like it is a problem with the hardware and ground loop with the pan servos. Weather was beautiful and there were big puffy low clouds all around. My elevator servo has been slowly striping out, and I was getting worried it was really bad, but it was giving me about 15% of movement (grinJeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16937131691811060956noreply@blogger.com0